Bedazzled by talent

Just a few months ago Simon* could barely string a sentence together, but now he stands on stage and delivers a line with utter confidence; head held high, chest pumped out with pride, his face breaking out in to a huge grin as he takes in the audience’s deafening applause. Moments like this don’t usually happen to people like Simon.

Well, one local couple want to ensure that they do.

Phil and Diane Janssen from Saffron Walden are the founders of Bedazzle, a theatre group, which offers children, young people and adults with learning difficulties access to performing arts. From workshops with West End stars to dazzling stage productions, Bedazzle gives Simon and hundreds of others like him a rare chance to shine.

“It was a real achievement for him,” beams Phil, recalling Simon’s big moment on stage. “When we met him he was too shy and embarrassed to engage and interact. But he has reached a point now where he can start the conversation, he can tell jokes and he is a very vocal part of the group, previously he didn’t have the confidence to do that.”

Phil and Diane founded Bedazzle in 2006. Diane had spent many years acting on stage and screen – her CV includes roles in Brookside, The Bill and Yes, Prime Minister – and wanted to pass on her expertise to others with a passion for performing. It initially started as a Saturday stage school, but soon Bedazzle’s ‘all inclusive’ policy attracted the attention of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdon Mencap, who invited Phil and Diane to lead an exciting new theatre course for children and adults with learning disabilities.

The group was an instant success, with Bedazzle’s innovative workshops proving that with just a little encouragement there is no limit to what can be achieved.

Running at venues across Cambridgeshire, participants are given the chance to develop skills in singing, dancing and acting. There’s also the opportunity to sit the prestigious LAMDA exam, perform in the group’s annual variety show Imagine – which took place last month – and attend numerous residential trips.

“It was a happy accident really, as these kind of things usually are,” says Diane, explaining how the theatre group came about. “One of the nurses at my parents’ care home told us Cambridgeshire Mencap were looking for someone to take over a group and it all started from there really. If we set out to do it, we would have probably never achieved it, but because it was something that came our way by chance, we’ve embraced it and really enjoyed the opportunity it’s given us.”

“We focus on what people can do, not what they can’t do,” Diane adds. “We take that hunger of what can be done and then just grow it as far as it can go. That’s what we’re all about really; enabling each Bedazzle student to be the best they can be.”

And the couple certainly do that. Showing me footage of recent Bedazzle productions, it’s inspiring to watch children and adults alike come alive on the stage. It must be incredibly rewarding to know they have played a part in that? “It’s very rewarding to see how performing arts can help people grow,” smiles Diane. “The Paralympics did a lot to change perceptions toward physical disability and achievement, but I think there is still work to be done to affect the same level of change towards learning disabilities. One of the most important things for us is ensuring those with learning disabilities get the same opportunities as everyone else.”

“There’s this one guy in the group who has ASD. He tends to repeat things over and over again, and he has no real memory of ‘I just said that a minute ago’,” explains Phil, giving an example. “He absolutely loves singing and we got him to come up with four songs and we recorded them to a backing track and he performed them at the show. Nobody ever gave him the opportunity to do that before.”

These opportunities extend to the showbiz world too, with one Bedazzle student winning a part in EastEnders. “We run a casting agency which is open to everybody and one of our chaps with Down’s Syndrome auditioned for a part in EastEnders and got it,” Diane explains. “We took him down to the audition but he won it on his own terms. He had to go in to the room and impress the people just like anybody else would have to do, and he succeeded – it was a real achievement.”

There are now more parts like this one cropping up in the acting world, but, despite the progress, Diane and Phil believe there can still sometimes be a narrow-mindedness when it comes to learning disability, which is why ensuring integration between their mainstream and disability classes is another hugely important part of the Bedazzle ethos.

Their recent variety show, Imagine, brought 90 students – 45 of whom had learning difficulties – together for a grand performance at West Road Concert Hall in Cambridge, and, was by all means, a resounding success. “Our integrated show embodies everything that we stand for. In all my years performing in the theatre I have never received a standing ovation, but this show did and they deserved it – there wasn’t a dry eye in the house!”

“The integration is such a powerful thing because that is what opens people’s minds,” adds Diane. “It’s like a ripple effect really; you can only influence people around you and hope that influence spreads.”

There’s more exciting times ahead for Bedazzle. The group have just produced their first Christmas single which will raise money for their charity, Bedazzle Projects. Written by singer-songwriter Kirsten Gundersen – she’s co-written an EP for a contestant on The Voice don’t you know – Wishes for Christmas was performed for the first time at Imagine, and has all the saccharin sweetness you could ever want from a Christmas song. “The recoding took place over a week with our sound engineer John Star visiting five different Bedazzle groups and then magically mixing the tracks into one wonderful version,” explains Diane. “All 90 voices are represented on the single and it is very true to our vision of integration and equal opportunity.”

“It is a lovely song, sung from the heart, full of joy and totally uplifting,” she adds. “It embodies the true spirit of Christmas.”

A Christmas number one might be a tad ambitious – they have that Lily Allen track to contend with after all – but for sheer passion and dedication, Bedazzle doesn’t half deserve it. “Diane and I live and breathe what we do. It’s enriched our lives enormously; every week is a joy and a pleasure,” says Phil.

*Not his real name.

You can download Wishes for Christmas from iTunes. For more information on Bedazzle, visit bedazzlearts.com.